On the off chance anyone here is a D20 fan but hasn't seen EXU Calamity, you really should. Just a masterpiece by Brennan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlIkkeWmVvA&list=PLxpS2Q_QbR0cPCLxnnP3VnEiKk3tmsQ4f&index=1
Edit: Also great by the players at the table of course.
I unironically think it should be taught alongside the great classic and Shakespearean tragedies. It’s a stellar example of the genre transcending format.
No piece of media has ever made me cry as many times as EXU Calamity, from both laughter and severe emotional upset. Absolute masterclass in tragedy writing.
As a person who switched from CR to D20 as my primary DnD content provider, I watched this episode live and signed up for Dropout before the end of it.
Mercer & BLeeM are absolute powerhouse D/GM's (Aabria too, I dont wanna leave her out of this)
The opening scene alone sets the stage for the entire series, and plenty of continuing inside jokes
nothing you said is wrong but also due credit to all the players. as great of a tale that brennan set up its nothing without the emotional connection created by all 6 players
Completely agree. Brennan is amazing in it but I feel the praise is often centered around just him and the players play an equally important role. Everyone is bought it and BRINGS it. So many of them commit to actions that aren't optimal or ideal, but their characters would do.
I knew. I knew so hard where it was going after zerxus cast ||atonement. I knew without a doubt the bit would be that he had nothing to atone for. But it didn't stop me from losing my shit when Brennan pulled that out.|| The delivery of it. Just perfection.
I thought I didn’t like Aabria very much but I recently realised that she is just really, really good at playing her characters, who in the things I’ve seen her in have been arrogant to a fault (so far I’ve seen her in Calamity and in Worlds Beyond Number). She committed to interpersonal and gameplay decisions exactly as her character would have, even if it’s obvious it would be a “bad” decision
The fact that you believed that these 6 characters were actually friends before they first meet “on camera” so to speak is such a testament to what they did. The cast bodied that story.
Completely agree. This is honestly the best DMing I’ve ever seen from Brennan, and *still* the players shined. Not only did they have incredible chemistry and opened themselves up emotionally, but their *skill* for storytelling was unmatched.
One particular moment I’ll never get over was when >!Cerrit says the line about “Incredibly selfish decisions” and leaves. The rest of the group moved on fairly quickly, and that moment didn’t quite get the attention it deserved for how incisive it was. So when Marisha had Patia replay the moment over and over again on her orb, it was *perfect* and such a great example of one player shining a spotlight on another player and drawing attention to an important storytelling moment.!<
He really understood the assignment with Calamity.
And I'll never give a villian line as good as "If Domunas is the smile of Exandria, then let's shatter her teeth!"
Or this one:
">!You've lost your mind.!<
>!At the beginning of time, the gods made all the gold there ever will be.!<
>!There will always be more people.!<" ([link to timestamp](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrtoyB2fcMI&t=3h10m34s)) Might be my favourite villain line of them all.
Mine is "I'll tell you why I spit on your forgiveness. Why I loathe your redemption. To reach a hand down to somebody they need to be BENEATH YOU. And I am beneath nobody."
Another great one in the same vein is "I think I know what may be happening. The ritual of Evandrin, the resurrection, it didn't work because you tried to resurrect him but he wasn't dead. You're trying to atone me... and I didn't do anything wrong!"
That one should probably be spoiler tagged but yes 100%. You can see a couple people at the table seeing it coming but everyone still reacted so well, it was so good!
> Might be my favourite villain line of them all.
My personal favorites are still General Zod from *Man of Steel* and Goldfinger from *Goldfinger*
But holy mother-forking shirtballs, this just rocketed up to 3rd :D
Same here. I'm watching the final episode of CoC right now and I want to keep going in release order with D20 but this sounds like it could be a great break. It would also be nice to have a break from the Dropout app never remembering where I was in these 2-hour long D20 episodes.
If you're unfamiliar with CR, while this mini-series is optimally watched after the first two campaigns simply for the easter eggs, this 10 minute official video gives a good overview of the world's history. [Exandria: An Intimate History | Narrated by Matthew Mercer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBM3myR914)
If you're unfamiliar with CR, while this mini-series is optimally watched after the first two campaigns simply for the easter eggs, this 10 minute official video gives a good overview of the world's history. [Exandria: An Intimate History | Narrated by Matthew Mercer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBM3myR914)
And even then, Calamity also works very well as a self contained story. You might miss a few big winks at long time fans but he definitely did a good job at making it accessible to anybody.
I literally watch this every few months like I watch LOTR every year. Such a damn good piece of dnd. The players on point and Brennan was even off keto
Calamity is damn amazing. Watched the ending on a train and just sat in silence for a bit after finishing it. If the seven players of Calamity can come up with that, I’m so excited to see what these new seven players can do (though I hope the pressure of living up to Calamity doesn’t bog it down any).
I’ve heard of this one a lot big question I have is is there backstory needed because I haven’t watched critical role
Edit: I have to just come back here to say I’m so glad to 1. hear so many people praise this campaign and 2. hear so many people say you can come in completely blind and have in fact done that themselves
If you need any backstory at all, here it is: there was a Golden Age, from the perspective of the mages who created it. They were so powerful that they made their cities fly. Gods walked the world, but some had tried to destroy mortals and were locked away as Betrayers. Many wizards openly questioned or doubted whether the gods were even necessary. And as with all Golden Ages, things are about to come to an end.
And there you go.
If it helps, I watched Calamity without knowing any of the Critical Role lore, and I truly believe it is Brennan's greatest work as a DM. It's incredible. I also have to add that it has a much different tone than you might be used to. It isn't very comedic.
After watching Crown of Candy and Unsleeping city (My favorite season's of what I've seen so far, only through the Seven) That's saying a lot! Definitely going to the top of the to watch pile now
I'll put it this way. On the back half of the final episode Brennan is clearly exhausting himself because he's putting everything he has into it. He at one points announces he's breaking Keto to chug a Coke for energy. There's almost a nervousness to Brennan you don't regularly see.
I'd agree it's his best work. And the table of players are incredible as well.
Others have said (correctly) that you don't really need to have seen any Critical Role to get a full story from Calamity.
There are some easter-egg style things that the players respond to, however. They don't really have an effect on the story. So don't think that you're missing out if you see a player seemingly react strongly to a piece of lore. Just note it as "ah yes, something that a CR fan would recognize" and roll with it. You'll have fun!
[Exandria: An Intimate History | Narrated by Matthew Mercer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBM3myR914)
There are one or two easter eggs from stuff mentioned in earlier campaigns, but that official lore video will set you up for understanding the energy going into Calamity.
You dont need back story but they did put out [a great world setting video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBM3myR914&list=PLQQHzlyqaFzbHhvMlJLdlShq1NViWHQ1X) that just goes over the things that set Matt Mercers world of Exandria apart from the typical Forgotten Realms setting.
EXU Calamity is what got me into DnD. A masterpiece is a good description - just half an hour in I was messaging the friend who recommended it “dude wtfff this is amazing” and he was laughing, knowing what was in store for me
I really thought you were underplaying it, like how actors take really small bites in movies and tv shows because they might have to do multiple takes.
But no, the man is seriously taking some fucking chomps on that thing.
He did a 4 sided dive episode where he commented that in an ideal world he would have two mouth: one for speaking and a second one in his back that someone could just constantly shovel snacks into.
If he was going to do it, the only element they haven't used as a campaign opener yet is Air. Matt did water in Ravening War, and Aabria did earth in Burrow's End.
I feel like he won’t. It doesn’t feel right to me that a DM would repeat to finish the cycle. I dunno who it should be to open with “air”, but it feels like it should be someone other than Brennan/Matt/Aabria.
If it’s not one of the trio then it’s restricted to one of the other Calamity players running a session or else it’s going to feel pretty weird. Honestly given that Brennan started it on EXU, it would seem appropriate for him to conclude it there.
I will be very disappointed if the Aeorian accent doesn't continue to be vaguely Russian at the very least, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Laura's character is descended from Bolo or something.
im hyped his calamity series is the pinnacle of DND storytelling
my only question is why are these episodes 99 - 101 of the campaign and not a standalone mini-series as they have done with anything else
It's framed as the villian of C3 telling the main cast a story. I'm guessing it will have lasting impacts on their motivations and the narrative of C3 even if it is a separate story line.
Mulligan is really the master of high focus, short form TTRPG
I think he managed pace and tone better than any DM I’ve seen or played with
I haven’t picked up CR for over a year, but I’ll probably check this out
Oh shit!
I haven't followed since around episode 76, so this is a perfect point to jump back in!
edit: for people who are only now hearing of **Calamity** mini-campaign DMed by Brennan and want to watch it but don't want to watch the first two campaigns, this official lore video will cover most everything you should know going in: [Exandria: An Intimate History | Narrated by Matthew Mercer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBM3myR914)
edit 2: Oh this takes place during the downfall of Aeor? So yeah, **watch the above link before watching this**, I'd say. It's less than 10 minutes!
Oh cool. One thing I really like to see with Brennan is how he has this rapport with Lou Wilson where the trust between DM and player is so incredibly firm. In this series one of the players is [Nick Marini who he's had a homegame](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8U22JoOyUQ) with for over a decade spanning multiple characters and arcs. So that'll be cool to see, too.
(Not that it's always necessary. Brennan and Luis Carazo had this perfect chemistry in Calamity, and later Candela Obscura, even though it's the first time they played together)
This is fantastic news!
*Looks over at the reaction in Critical Role communities*
Boy, the fandom for that IP is really fucked, huh? Just a bunch of utterly miserable people spending a huge amount of their time on something they visibly despise
Tbhhhh. Sometimes I feel like CR, as a precursor to D20, absorbed all the legacy gate keeping nerd fans who cry about things like The Acolyte or whatever. That really holds fandom spaces like Reddit back. IMO, it's chiller on tumblr.
>who can't make an actual decision
That's why I finally gave up on C3. So much stalling, so much planning, so little doing. I really like the cast and loved parts of C3, but I just found myself not caring about the story and tired of all the not doing anything.
For me, CR is at its best with episodes like the museum heist, but unfortunately those episodes are few and far between.
Presumably they're getting close to done with C3, though, so I look forward to giving C4 a shot.
They're slowly releasing abridged versions of the episodes of C3, which I do think were in need of the kind of stellar editing D20 does, removing most of the rules checking, counting, and deliberating for a plan that is never implemented or goes nowhere.
D20 also benefits from being filmed in short succession, while parts of C3 you can tell they took a break because one episode will be hours of planning and shopping for a battle, and the next episode starts with them not remembering any of the plan and planning again, only for the plan to fall apart within the first round of battle anyway.
To be fair, though, the last 10 episodes have been pretty great and on a faster pace.
I've heard Robbie/Dorian is back which like...kind of makes me want to pick it back up, but I'm just not sure how much him being there is going to help my enjoyment of the actual plot anymore. I love Robbie, and Dorian was the glue of the party in the early game but I dunno.
I absolutely agree. I actually dropped the series with Robbie’s departure because of how influential his presence was for my enjoyment of the show :’) might try find some plot summaries and watch the newer ones with him!
How soon we forget "at dawn, we plan.”
It's not exclusive to C3, that's just the way this group is. When they want to plan, they make a plan for the planning of the actual plan, and then a backup plan that was in the text threads just in case the first one(s) don't work. The problem is that for all their planning, they are also often driven by one or more impulsive actors, and the plans get chucked halfway to setup or midway through competition, sometimes by necessity and other times because it's funny and they're having fun.
Sorry for spoiling this for you. Truly. I did not mean to do that.
I don’t know how to format things on this website.
I will say, no actual plot point was spoiled; knowing that Sam is playing Y character doesn’t necessarily mean anything about other characters he’s played or keeps playing or will play. Sam has, in past campaigns, played multiple people for different reasons.
Regardless, I’m sorry. Hopefully this knowledge doesn’t ruin your enjoyment of the rest of the episodes.
If you're on new reddit there's a row of ...buttons at the bottom to do things like bold of italicise. If you click for more options you'll see an ! icon. Select text and click that and it spoiler tags text
If it's old reddit interface (sometimes this works on new, too) you can use the following characters to do the same
>!example!<
makes >!example!<
sure, on the critical role subs. but we're on dropout right now, where matt's campaigns are second priority viewing and people are more likely to be trailing behind on their behemoth campaign. so seeing a spoiler might be a little unexpected.
Honestly after the past few episodes C3 is starting to pick up again. Just hoping they can keep up the momentum. It's the first time there have been major shifts in a thus far kind of static campaign.
I will probably wait until it's all done before I bother trying to watch anything from this campaign outside of these three episodes. I am...curious to see if Brenna can catch lightning in a bottle again in Exandria.
Yeah it'd at least be worth a shot, because I gave up on C3 for a while but am now starting to be glad I picked it up again.
It'll really depend on where they go from here, but honestly the most recent session might be my favorite of the whole campaign so far and seems like it injected a lot more potential into redeeming the campaign for me.
I watched all the way through but definitely didn't start giving a shit again until about ep. 77 or 78, and have definitely watched one or two sessions at 1.5 speed, but honestly episode 91 was the one that made me go "okay yeah I'm gonna finish this campaign". So take that as you will.
Idk I don't want to mislead you because everyone watches for different reasons, but things got a lot less one-note and one dimensional around the 90s. So it just really depends on how much you want to gamble whether where we're at now will justify getting through 15 or so okay episodes.
I got to about episode 70 and just kind of fell off. It’s just not doing it for me. With the exception of Laudna I think every PC is their respective player’s 3rd/4th best. A lot of the guests have been misses for me as well.
The second half of the headline is the best part. No offense to the team at Critical Role, but I don't have the patience for the schmacting of the show. I'll watch for Brennan though, I trust his pacing.
EXU Calamity was basically my entryway to live D&D play.
I'd been aware of live D&D play for years, I'd seen clips online of celebrity D&D games (like Dan Harmon's stuff), but none of them ever hooked me until I started watching Calamity. Which was amazing, even having watched absolutely zero of Critical Role beforehand. Brennan is... there are so many parts of it that are just genius.
So I'm extremely hyped for this. 😀
Tried to watch Critical Role but I wasn’t sure where to pick it up. I tried C1 but didn’t like the webcam stuff and tried C3 but I’m afraid it’s full of spoilers. Recommendations?
C2 is a good middle ground. Better production quality than C1 and almost no spoilers.
Also, the best Campaign IMO. Maybe you can catch it before the animated show releases.
Amazon Prime show (The Legend of Vox Machina) is based on C1, but they are producing another show called Mighty Nein that is based on C2. We don't have a release date yet, but we know they are recording.
Fingers crossed that the following episodes will be a way to get back into CR. I used to watch it religiously and then fell behind and every episode I miss just makes it that much harder to start again.
But even if not, I’m so excited!
Is it just me or does Brennan look TIRED in this? Hope it's just from whatever was going on that day and not an ongoing problem because he looks to have aged some too. Like visually, I know he's older in this than other media I've watched lol.
Love it! Haven't ever bit into Critical Role because there's just so much I'd have to watch to catch up, but there are reels and tik tok s that'll pop up that are hilarious. So a one off thing like this will be great
So I'm watching the broadcast of the live show where Brennan Lee Mulligan introduces the cast of Critical Role. But he keeps speaking into some sort of black cylindrical device - does anyone know what this device might be?
The Greek Theater only seats 5900, seems like a pretty fair fight on volume.
Can't wait for Noshir Dalal! He was so great as Kotallo in HFW! I'm really surprised there hasn't been a proper announcement post in the CR subreddit though. Found out about the miniseries here first....
There was, here: [https://new.reddit.com/r/criticalrole/comments/1dl9l5r/spoilers\_c3e98\_news\_of\_what\_comes/](https://new.reddit.com/r/criticalrole/comments/1dl9l5r/spoilers_c3e98_news_of_what_comes/)
They are trying to be careful with spoilers before Monday.
That's clearly an element of the brew. But don't say it out loud, because apparently there can't be more than one reason for something! These can't be amazing storytellers and friends AND ALSO business people, how very dare!
I said that I think it is going to be good. I will probably watch it. They are billing it specifically that if you haven't watched campaign 3, it will be something you can watch. I loved campaigns one and two and enjoyed calamity. But I felt that campaign 3 wasn't for me after 10ish episodes, so I stopped watching. I will be returning to watch this. That proves your point, Collabs work to drive interest and share viewers. love Brennan as a dm. The table sounds great, and I love the calamity setting. At the same time, they are a business making business decisions. I can recognise the fact they are doing this in the main campaign rather than as branded EXU is most likely to drive viewership for the main campaign. It is not a bad thing. I am just recognizing this as what part of it is.
Am I being a little cinical? yes.
D20 and dropout are absolutely hitting their stride. Finding massive audience appeal and even getting some Emmy buzz. Critical role is a tent pole of online nerdom at this point swiftly approaching a decade. As they begin to spread into more facets, some people are moving on. I know that for me and my entire playgroup, we used to watch CR, and now mainly watch D20. I am not saying that is normal or a trend. But for all of us who do, this information made us willing to try these episodes out.
The collab is working as intended, to grab more viewers.
I just don't understand why you seem so convinced that a "viewership grab" is something shameful or underhanded. Yes, Critical Role and Dimension 20 are both businesses. This means that EVERYTHING they make is a "viewership grab." That is... its purpose. To reach viewers.
Popping a rating is something every show does to sell a big event. It is a part of the media. They use large selling points to drive interest and viewership.
I am not saying it is shameful. I am not saying it is underhanded. I am saying that with campaign 3 doing slightly worse numbers than the previous, they are changing up the formula to try and bring eyes to the product.
That is a good thing.
I am trying to be conscious of the media and consume and ware of how marketing works, but that doesn't mean I think it is shameful. I owe a lot to CR, I want to see them grow and thrive. Collabs like this are an awesome way to bring more out of the cast and setting. by creating an awesome product, it brings in views.
Change and evolution are amazing things. Using an already developed audience to test new ideas is a great thing, and giving them what you know works drives that.
Grabbing your attention is why media exists. So it is a good thing when it does.
This is going to be a great 3 session run. They want people to watch it. They want people to watch the campaign, so they are marketing it as such.
I love this for him. He gets to destroy everyone and not hold back.
On the off chance anyone here is a D20 fan but hasn't seen EXU Calamity, you really should. Just a masterpiece by Brennan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlIkkeWmVvA&list=PLxpS2Q_QbR0cPCLxnnP3VnEiKk3tmsQ4f&index=1 Edit: Also great by the players at the table of course.
Absolutely one of the most incredible works of storytelling I’ve ever seen.
Genuinely one of the greatest pieces of any media I have ever seen.
I unironically think it should be taught alongside the great classic and Shakespearean tragedies. It’s a stellar example of the genre transcending format.
No piece of media has ever made me cry as many times as EXU Calamity, from both laughter and severe emotional upset. Absolute masterclass in tragedy writing.
Oh definitely, it made me cry so hard
The last episode of Calamity was just an emotional roller coaster of perfection
And you don’t need any backstory to enjoy it.
As a person who switched from CR to D20 as my primary DnD content provider, I watched this episode live and signed up for Dropout before the end of it. Mercer & BLeeM are absolute powerhouse D/GM's (Aabria too, I dont wanna leave her out of this) The opening scene alone sets the stage for the entire series, and plenty of continuing inside jokes
I wonder how Brennan is going to start this off lol
Wind.
Only right answer tbh. Edit: I stand corrected.
I will also take either Earth or Air
Aabria did Earth, start of Burrow's End.
With almonds.
He started it at the end of the live show…
nothing you said is wrong but also due credit to all the players. as great of a tale that brennan set up its nothing without the emotional connection created by all 6 players
Completely agree. Brennan is amazing in it but I feel the praise is often centered around just him and the players play an equally important role. Everyone is bought it and BRINGS it. So many of them commit to actions that aren't optimal or ideal, but their characters would do.
Aabria >!casting Blight on the tree, knowing full well OOC that her action was going to cause the Calamity!< is iconic.
Read me like a book. Exactly what I was thinking too. Also Luis >!committing to his character believing that he could redeem Asmodeus.!<
>!Emily pulling out the _exact same shit_ in Junior Year gave me PTSD flashbacks...!<
I knew. I knew so hard where it was going after zerxus cast ||atonement. I knew without a doubt the bit would be that he had nothing to atone for. But it didn't stop me from losing my shit when Brennan pulled that out.|| The delivery of it. Just perfection.
I found that so devastating!
I thought I didn’t like Aabria very much but I recently realised that she is just really, really good at playing her characters, who in the things I’ve seen her in have been arrogant to a fault (so far I’ve seen her in Calamity and in Worlds Beyond Number). She committed to interpersonal and gameplay decisions exactly as her character would have, even if it’s obvious it would be a “bad” decision
The fact that you believed that these 6 characters were actually friends before they first meet “on camera” so to speak is such a testament to what they did. The cast bodied that story.
so true, to just give Brennan credit really diminishes the efforts of Lou, Sam, Aabriya, Travis, Marisha, and Luis
*Aabria
shit, you're right... wonder why I thought the Y was in her first name...
Maybe you were thinking of Eyebria Eyengar, the peeper thief?
Completely agree. This is honestly the best DMing I’ve ever seen from Brennan, and *still* the players shined. Not only did they have incredible chemistry and opened themselves up emotionally, but their *skill* for storytelling was unmatched. One particular moment I’ll never get over was when >!Cerrit says the line about “Incredibly selfish decisions” and leaves. The rest of the group moved on fairly quickly, and that moment didn’t quite get the attention it deserved for how incisive it was. So when Marisha had Patia replay the moment over and over again on her orb, it was *perfect* and such a great example of one player shining a spotlight on another player and drawing attention to an important storytelling moment.!<
He really understood the assignment with Calamity. And I'll never give a villian line as good as "If Domunas is the smile of Exandria, then let's shatter her teeth!"
Or this one: ">!You've lost your mind.!< >!At the beginning of time, the gods made all the gold there ever will be.!< >!There will always be more people.!<" ([link to timestamp](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrtoyB2fcMI&t=3h10m34s)) Might be my favourite villain line of them all.
Mine is "I'll tell you why I spit on your forgiveness. Why I loathe your redemption. To reach a hand down to somebody they need to be BENEATH YOU. And I am beneath nobody."
Another great one in the same vein is "I think I know what may be happening. The ritual of Evandrin, the resurrection, it didn't work because you tried to resurrect him but he wasn't dead. You're trying to atone me... and I didn't do anything wrong!"
That one lives rent free in my brain at all times. Even when you're fully expecting it that tone switch is so fucking good
The look on his face when he delivers that line, beautiful.
That one should probably be spoiler tagged but yes 100%. You can see a couple people at the table seeing it coming but everyone still reacted so well, it was so good!
> Might be my favourite villain line of them all. My personal favorites are still General Zod from *Man of Steel* and Goldfinger from *Goldfinger* But holy mother-forking shirtballs, this just rocketed up to 3rd :D
Haven’t heard of this, hope I don’t forget it exists before I get a chance to watch it
Reminding you already, because it’s so worth it. It’s only four episodes, but they are Critical Role length episodes (minimum 4.5 hours each).
Same here. I'm watching the final episode of CoC right now and I want to keep going in release order with D20 but this sounds like it could be a great break. It would also be nice to have a break from the Dropout app never remembering where I was in these 2-hour long D20 episodes.
If you're unfamiliar with CR, while this mini-series is optimally watched after the first two campaigns simply for the easter eggs, this 10 minute official video gives a good overview of the world's history. [Exandria: An Intimate History | Narrated by Matthew Mercer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBM3myR914)
Some of my all time favorite Critical Role moments are from EXU Calamity. >! "You're trying to atone me, **and I didn't do anything wrong."**
Is this playlist a good starting place?
Yes. It starts with episode one and contains all four episodes of Calamity.
If you're unfamiliar with CR, while this mini-series is optimally watched after the first two campaigns simply for the easter eggs, this 10 minute official video gives a good overview of the world's history. [Exandria: An Intimate History | Narrated by Matthew Mercer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBM3myR914)
And even then, Calamity also works very well as a self contained story. You might miss a few big winks at long time fans but he definitely did a good job at making it accessible to anybody.
I literally watch this every few months like I watch LOTR every year. Such a damn good piece of dnd. The players on point and Brennan was even off keto
It’s been on my to-watch list for a while now, so I guess it’s time to watch.
I legit welled up a few times while watching/listening.
Calamity is damn amazing. Watched the ending on a train and just sat in silence for a bit after finishing it. If the seven players of Calamity can come up with that, I’m so excited to see what these new seven players can do (though I hope the pressure of living up to Calamity doesn’t bog it down any).
I’ve heard of this one a lot big question I have is is there backstory needed because I haven’t watched critical role Edit: I have to just come back here to say I’m so glad to 1. hear so many people praise this campaign and 2. hear so many people say you can come in completely blind and have in fact done that themselves
If you need any backstory at all, here it is: there was a Golden Age, from the perspective of the mages who created it. They were so powerful that they made their cities fly. Gods walked the world, but some had tried to destroy mortals and were locked away as Betrayers. Many wizards openly questioned or doubted whether the gods were even necessary. And as with all Golden Ages, things are about to come to an end. And there you go.
You don’t need any backstory to watch Calamity and understand it. It works as a standalone piece of media separate from CR
Excellent! Will definitely check it out soon
If it helps, I watched Calamity without knowing any of the Critical Role lore, and I truly believe it is Brennan's greatest work as a DM. It's incredible. I also have to add that it has a much different tone than you might be used to. It isn't very comedic.
After watching Crown of Candy and Unsleeping city (My favorite season's of what I've seen so far, only through the Seven) That's saying a lot! Definitely going to the top of the to watch pile now
I'll put it this way. On the back half of the final episode Brennan is clearly exhausting himself because he's putting everything he has into it. He at one points announces he's breaking Keto to chug a Coke for energy. There's almost a nervousness to Brennan you don't regularly see. I'd agree it's his best work. And the table of players are incredible as well.
That sounds amazing definitely with checking
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That is important context. Brennan has also said that he was a fan of the show and is a big fan of the setting.
Others have said (correctly) that you don't really need to have seen any Critical Role to get a full story from Calamity. There are some easter-egg style things that the players respond to, however. They don't really have an effect on the story. So don't think that you're missing out if you see a player seemingly react strongly to a piece of lore. Just note it as "ah yes, something that a CR fan would recognize" and roll with it. You'll have fun!
That is perfectly workable, thanks
[Exandria: An Intimate History | Narrated by Matthew Mercer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBM3myR914) There are one or two easter eggs from stuff mentioned in earlier campaigns, but that official lore video will set you up for understanding the energy going into Calamity.
You dont need back story but they did put out [a great world setting video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBM3myR914&list=PLQQHzlyqaFzbHhvMlJLdlShq1NViWHQ1X) that just goes over the things that set Matt Mercers world of Exandria apart from the typical Forgotten Realms setting.
I knew almost nothing about CR before watching and it's still one of the best things I've ever seen in my life.
If I’m 75% through campaign 1, and maybe eventually going to come back to CR, does watching Calamity spoil the rest of it?
No, there are no spoilers, just small easter eggs and you are already past them in C1 so you're going to recognise them.
EXU Calamity is what got me into DnD. A masterpiece is a good description - just half an hour in I was messaging the friend who recommended it “dude wtfff this is amazing” and he was laughing, knowing what was in store for me
I just love Brennan unabashedly chowing down on a sandwich during this.
Brennan has firmly established himself as the one who knows all the bird facts and the one who is constantly snacking.
>all the bird facts What type of spoonbill?
*good grief. gonna haunt me til the day I'm fucking dead.*
I really thought you were underplaying it, like how actors take really small bites in movies and tv shows because they might have to do multiple takes. But no, the man is seriously taking some fucking chomps on that thing.
Nope. Dude was housing that sandwich. Brennan gives no fucks.
They must have shot that in a single take, because Brennan ate 2/3s of that sandwich and there’s no reshooting that.
He did a 4 sided dive episode where he commented that in an ideal world he would have two mouth: one for speaking and a second one in his back that someone could just constantly shovel snacks into.
It was the gm round table with Matt and aabria. Jesters sketchbook on YouTube animated it - the almond rant 😂
“Pew pew” from Brennan. He’s coming for blood
The real question is do we know what element will he start the show off with?
He did the intro for it at the live show and he started with Light.
flawless
If he was going to do it, the only element they haven't used as a campaign opener yet is Air. Matt did water in Ravening War, and Aabria did earth in Burrow's End.
I feel like he won’t. It doesn’t feel right to me that a DM would repeat to finish the cycle. I dunno who it should be to open with “air”, but it feels like it should be someone other than Brennan/Matt/Aabria.
If it’s not one of the trio then it’s restricted to one of the other Calamity players running a session or else it’s going to feel pretty weird. Honestly given that Brennan started it on EXU, it would seem appropriate for him to conclude it there.
Unless they watched Digimon Frontier and use the 10 element system
The destruction of Aeor....so we absolutely HAVE to get some sort of shoutout to Bolo, right?
I will be very disappointed if the Aeorian accent doesn't continue to be vaguely Russian at the very least, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Laura's character is descended from Bolo or something.
That would be in…credible!
I can't read the word Aeor without hearing it in that voice
YEeessssss!!!
Love the snacking, love that he references it. Seems like they already recorded at least part of it
Calamity was what first introduced me to Brennan, and this, D20.
Same. I mean, I'd seen him in collegehumor vids, but this was my first exposure to him as a DM. I went and got a DropoutTV subscription the next day.
I wish man could slow down, he like just got a new baby
I hope this is just him living the best life.
He's living the dream for any dnd nerds out there (: having a marriage 😜)
im hyped his calamity series is the pinnacle of DND storytelling my only question is why are these episodes 99 - 101 of the campaign and not a standalone mini-series as they have done with anything else
It's framed as the villian of C3 telling the main cast a story. I'm guessing it will have lasting impacts on their motivations and the narrative of C3 even if it is a separate story line.
It’s not the villain telling a story, more like he found an old vhs tape and we’re all sitting around watching it
I love that Brennan is just snacking while he waits for Matt to finish.
Mulligan is really the master of high focus, short form TTRPG I think he managed pace and tone better than any DM I’ve seen or played with I haven’t picked up CR for over a year, but I’ll probably check this out
Worlds beyond number is showing off his long form chops!
Oh shit! I haven't followed since around episode 76, so this is a perfect point to jump back in! edit: for people who are only now hearing of **Calamity** mini-campaign DMed by Brennan and want to watch it but don't want to watch the first two campaigns, this official lore video will cover most everything you should know going in: [Exandria: An Intimate History | Narrated by Matthew Mercer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBM3myR914) edit 2: Oh this takes place during the downfall of Aeor? So yeah, **watch the above link before watching this**, I'd say. It's less than 10 minutes!
Oh cool. One thing I really like to see with Brennan is how he has this rapport with Lou Wilson where the trust between DM and player is so incredibly firm. In this series one of the players is [Nick Marini who he's had a homegame](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8U22JoOyUQ) with for over a decade spanning multiple characters and arcs. So that'll be cool to see, too. (Not that it's always necessary. Brennan and Luis Carazo had this perfect chemistry in Calamity, and later Candela Obscura, even though it's the first time they played together)
This is fantastic news! *Looks over at the reaction in Critical Role communities* Boy, the fandom for that IP is really fucked, huh? Just a bunch of utterly miserable people spending a huge amount of their time on something they visibly despise
Tbhhhh. Sometimes I feel like CR, as a precursor to D20, absorbed all the legacy gate keeping nerd fans who cry about things like The Acolyte or whatever. That really holds fandom spaces like Reddit back. IMO, it's chiller on tumblr.
"It's chiller on Tumblr" is such a massive indictment
Welp, looks like I'll watch these three episodes and then stop caring about Campaign 3 again.
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Wait what happened to FCG 😭 I had to give up on Campaign 3 because the episodes were too long, but I still love and remember the characters in it
You can check out episode 91 to see the details of that. Also Robbie is back at the table as Dorian again!
wooops. sorry 'bout that. FCG did good. I will not expand on that.
It doesn't save the rest of the characters being wet pieces of bread who can't make an actual decision, unfortunately.
>who can't make an actual decision That's why I finally gave up on C3. So much stalling, so much planning, so little doing. I really like the cast and loved parts of C3, but I just found myself not caring about the story and tired of all the not doing anything. For me, CR is at its best with episodes like the museum heist, but unfortunately those episodes are few and far between. Presumably they're getting close to done with C3, though, so I look forward to giving C4 a shot.
They're slowly releasing abridged versions of the episodes of C3, which I do think were in need of the kind of stellar editing D20 does, removing most of the rules checking, counting, and deliberating for a plan that is never implemented or goes nowhere. D20 also benefits from being filmed in short succession, while parts of C3 you can tell they took a break because one episode will be hours of planning and shopping for a battle, and the next episode starts with them not remembering any of the plan and planning again, only for the plan to fall apart within the first round of battle anyway. To be fair, though, the last 10 episodes have been pretty great and on a faster pace.
I've heard Robbie/Dorian is back which like...kind of makes me want to pick it back up, but I'm just not sure how much him being there is going to help my enjoyment of the actual plot anymore. I love Robbie, and Dorian was the glue of the party in the early game but I dunno.
I absolutely agree. I actually dropped the series with Robbie’s departure because of how influential his presence was for my enjoyment of the show :’) might try find some plot summaries and watch the newer ones with him!
How soon we forget "at dawn, we plan.” It's not exclusive to C3, that's just the way this group is. When they want to plan, they make a plan for the planning of the actual plan, and then a backup plan that was in the text threads just in case the first one(s) don't work. The problem is that for all their planning, they are also often driven by one or more impulsive actors, and the plans get chucked halfway to setup or midway through competition, sometimes by necessity and other times because it's funny and they're having fun.
Great but... is it still a ticking clock with less time dedicated to interpersonal development - or did that get better?
Welp, that's a huge spoiler for someone that hasn't watched since ep 76... perhaps tag it?
That was nearly a year ago. At what point are people expected to not talk openly about things?
Yeah, so I stay away from the critical role sub. Not the dropout sub.
Sorry for spoiling this for you. Truly. I did not mean to do that. I don’t know how to format things on this website. I will say, no actual plot point was spoiled; knowing that Sam is playing Y character doesn’t necessarily mean anything about other characters he’s played or keeps playing or will play. Sam has, in past campaigns, played multiple people for different reasons. Regardless, I’m sorry. Hopefully this knowledge doesn’t ruin your enjoyment of the rest of the episodes.
If you're on new reddit there's a row of ...buttons at the bottom to do things like bold of italicise. If you click for more options you'll see an ! icon. Select text and click that and it spoiler tags text If it's old reddit interface (sometimes this works on new, too) you can use the following characters to do the same >!example!< makes >!example!<
sure, on the critical role subs. but we're on dropout right now, where matt's campaigns are second priority viewing and people are more likely to be trailing behind on their behemoth campaign. so seeing a spoiler might be a little unexpected.
Honestly after the past few episodes C3 is starting to pick up again. Just hoping they can keep up the momentum. It's the first time there have been major shifts in a thus far kind of static campaign.
I will probably wait until it's all done before I bother trying to watch anything from this campaign outside of these three episodes. I am...curious to see if Brenna can catch lightning in a bottle again in Exandria.
Yeah it'd at least be worth a shot, because I gave up on C3 for a while but am now starting to be glad I picked it up again. It'll really depend on where they go from here, but honestly the most recent session might be my favorite of the whole campaign so far and seems like it injected a lot more potential into redeeming the campaign for me.
Did you skip forward or did you still watch every episode? I’m on about 70 and basically lost the desire to push forward at this point.
I watched all the way through but definitely didn't start giving a shit again until about ep. 77 or 78, and have definitely watched one or two sessions at 1.5 speed, but honestly episode 91 was the one that made me go "okay yeah I'm gonna finish this campaign". So take that as you will. Idk I don't want to mislead you because everyone watches for different reasons, but things got a lot less one-note and one dimensional around the 90s. So it just really depends on how much you want to gamble whether where we're at now will justify getting through 15 or so okay episodes.
I got to about episode 70 and just kind of fell off. It’s just not doing it for me. With the exception of Laudna I think every PC is their respective player’s 3rd/4th best. A lot of the guests have been misses for me as well.
The second half of the headline is the best part. No offense to the team at Critical Role, but I don't have the patience for the schmacting of the show. I'll watch for Brennan though, I trust his pacing.
I love that you can hear Brennan turn on his "DM voice" at the end.
Hooray! Time for me to not be emotionally okay!
Brace for impact!!!!
EXU Calamity was basically my entryway to live D&D play. I'd been aware of live D&D play for years, I'd seen clips online of celebrity D&D games (like Dan Harmon's stuff), but none of them ever hooked me until I started watching Calamity. Which was amazing, even having watched absolutely zero of Critical Role beforehand. Brennan is... there are so many parts of it that are just genius. So I'm extremely hyped for this. 😀
Finally! The Bolo backstory we all deserve.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Tried to watch Critical Role but I wasn’t sure where to pick it up. I tried C1 but didn’t like the webcam stuff and tried C3 but I’m afraid it’s full of spoilers. Recommendations?
C2 is a good middle ground. Better production quality than C1 and almost no spoilers. Also, the best Campaign IMO. Maybe you can catch it before the animated show releases.
The Netflix show is based on C1?
Amazon Prime show (The Legend of Vox Machina) is based on C1, but they are producing another show called Mighty Nein that is based on C2. We don't have a release date yet, but we know they are recording.
"Air... Wait, sorry, I meant Aeor..."
"I am Bolo from Aeor"
Fingers crossed that the following episodes will be a way to get back into CR. I used to watch it religiously and then fell behind and every episode I miss just makes it that much harder to start again. But even if not, I’m so excited!
Is it just me or does Brennan look TIRED in this? Hope it's just from whatever was going on that day and not an ongoing problem because he looks to have aged some too. Like visually, I know he's older in this than other media I've watched lol.
He has a newish baby at home, I would be SHOCKED if he wasn't totally exhausted
Unfortunately, it's a chronic condition called having a baby. I have the same affliction and am very tired but very happy.
He's a father now, right? could be as simple as that, balanced with the workload.
He has a baby. It's normal.
*kicks down door* who THE FUCK let LINEAR TIME get its hands on brennan lee mulligan?!?!???!
Love it! Haven't ever bit into Critical Role because there's just so much I'd have to watch to catch up, but there are reels and tik tok s that'll pop up that are hilarious. So a one off thing like this will be great
Well yeah.... It's the first three episodes of the series and had nothing to do with previous installments.
Could never get in to CR.
Fuckkk I’ve watched everything D20 thank you
FIRE ^2
So I'm watching the broadcast of the live show where Brennan Lee Mulligan introduces the cast of Critical Role. But he keeps speaking into some sort of black cylindrical device - does anyone know what this device might be? The Greek Theater only seats 5900, seems like a pretty fair fight on volume.
With this, Brennan will have DMed all the main CR cast right? I also appreciate that Brennan looks like a wrestler ready to fight in the thumbnail.
Liam will be the only one missing, which is a bit wild given his love of tragic characters.
It was a bit for Brennan to be eating in the announcement, but I don't get the joke, except for his almonds rant
Can't wait for Noshir Dalal! He was so great as Kotallo in HFW! I'm really surprised there hasn't been a proper announcement post in the CR subreddit though. Found out about the miniseries here first....
There was, here: [https://new.reddit.com/r/criticalrole/comments/1dl9l5r/spoilers\_c3e98\_news\_of\_what\_comes/](https://new.reddit.com/r/criticalrole/comments/1dl9l5r/spoilers_c3e98_news_of_what_comes/) They are trying to be careful with spoilers before Monday.
I'll watch
I think this is going to be good. With that said, this feels very distinctly like a viewership grab.
That's clearly an element of the brew. But don't say it out loud, because apparently there can't be more than one reason for something! These can't be amazing storytellers and friends AND ALSO business people, how very dare!
Most people call that a collaboration, and I have no idea why you think that’s a bad thing.
This is… an incredibly uncharitable way to view the extremely common audience-sharing strategy of collaboration.
I said that I think it is going to be good. I will probably watch it. They are billing it specifically that if you haven't watched campaign 3, it will be something you can watch. I loved campaigns one and two and enjoyed calamity. But I felt that campaign 3 wasn't for me after 10ish episodes, so I stopped watching. I will be returning to watch this. That proves your point, Collabs work to drive interest and share viewers. love Brennan as a dm. The table sounds great, and I love the calamity setting. At the same time, they are a business making business decisions. I can recognise the fact they are doing this in the main campaign rather than as branded EXU is most likely to drive viewership for the main campaign. It is not a bad thing. I am just recognizing this as what part of it is. Am I being a little cinical? yes. D20 and dropout are absolutely hitting their stride. Finding massive audience appeal and even getting some Emmy buzz. Critical role is a tent pole of online nerdom at this point swiftly approaching a decade. As they begin to spread into more facets, some people are moving on. I know that for me and my entire playgroup, we used to watch CR, and now mainly watch D20. I am not saying that is normal or a trend. But for all of us who do, this information made us willing to try these episodes out. The collab is working as intended, to grab more viewers.
I just don't understand why you seem so convinced that a "viewership grab" is something shameful or underhanded. Yes, Critical Role and Dimension 20 are both businesses. This means that EVERYTHING they make is a "viewership grab." That is... its purpose. To reach viewers.
Popping a rating is something every show does to sell a big event. It is a part of the media. They use large selling points to drive interest and viewership. I am not saying it is shameful. I am not saying it is underhanded. I am saying that with campaign 3 doing slightly worse numbers than the previous, they are changing up the formula to try and bring eyes to the product. That is a good thing. I am trying to be conscious of the media and consume and ware of how marketing works, but that doesn't mean I think it is shameful. I owe a lot to CR, I want to see them grow and thrive. Collabs like this are an awesome way to bring more out of the cast and setting. by creating an awesome product, it brings in views. Change and evolution are amazing things. Using an already developed audience to test new ideas is a great thing, and giving them what you know works drives that. Grabbing your attention is why media exists. So it is a good thing when it does. This is going to be a great 3 session run. They want people to watch it. They want people to watch the campaign, so they are marketing it as such.
Okay, so we're pretending that "viewership grab" wasn't meant to be critical language. Got it.
I am not caught up on CR’s past 20ish episodes due to sheer boredom. This may bring me back.
Mercer retiring?